Landing and beaching gear for aircraft



Sept. 6, 1932.

1 w. WINTER 1,876,158

Lin/Infor.'

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 6, 1932. L. w. WINTER LANDING AND BEACHING GEAR FOR AIRCRAFT Filed De. 15, 1951 Sept. 6, 1932. L.. w. WINTER LANDING AND BEAGHING GEAR FOR AIRCRAFT Filed Dec. 15. 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept.. 6, 1932. L.. w. WINTER 1,876,158

LANDING AND-BEACHING GEAR FOR AIRCRAFT Filed Dec. 15, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Sept .6. 1932 L. w. WINTER 1,876,158

LANDING AND BEACHING GEAR FOR AIRCRAFT Filed Dec. l5, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Sept. 6, 1932 UNI-TED, STATES PATENToFI-lca LEONARD WILLOUGHEY wrirriiia, or BLUEBELL. HILL, NEAR no cHEsrEn,

. ENGLAND.-.

LANnmG AND BEACHING GEA-R Foa AIRCRAFT:

Applicaiidn iueanecembeif 15, 1931, serial No. 581,203, `airain vGreat Britain December s, `1930.

This invention relates vto alighting gears Vfor aircraft and means 'fortransporting aircraft after they have alighted on water, snow, 'ce or ships, and has for itsv object to provide an improved vmeans whereby the landing gear and wheel or wheels are housed vin `a buoyant body. rl`he buoyant body. will hereinafter be referred to as the ioat, hull Vor hulls of the aircraft as the case .may be. 10 MoreV particularly the invention has for its object 'to construct'means whereby the planing bottom surface of the floats, hull or hulls is -maintained Yin true form after'the wheel has been retracted' v'into the buoyant body..`

715 f Y Accordingly this invention comprises the provision of means whereby not only may a /wheel inserted in a float Yor hull be retracted in order to facilitate an aircraft leavingV the water, but also the slot 'through which the -20 wheel or wheels rise and fall may be 'closed Vin order to maintain the planing'bottom surfaces.

IIn order that the' invention may be more vreadily understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, where- 1n:- 'Fig. 1 is a part-sectional side el'evationofa 'float-aand: wheelfformin'g Vone embodiment of the invention; f 4 f Y l Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof', but with the'wheel the closed o r Aretracted position. Figs 3, 4 and 5 are respectivelya side elevation, plan and end view of a float arrangement i'n' accordance with the'invention 935 as applied to' a seaplane, lthe latter being Yshown. in dotted lines.

Figs. 6 and'?" are enlarged' detail views ';A Fig'.V 8 is a section of another embodiment, and K4; f a.

Fig. 9 is a side view thereof. A

l Fig. 10 is a section of another embodi-- ment; i F1gw11 is a correspondingside view, and

Fig; 12 is a plan'.`

45l-v'-Ref'erring firstly to! Figsf1 and 2, a float l0 provided with ra step 11 has immediately Y forward of the step a semicircular vor vD- 1 shaped slot or opening 1 2' in which vis housed *a wheel 13 and a closing plate'14, these 'parts f 5 13,- 141 being joined' for simultaneous movefor the like 24 on eachshaft 15.

yIt'will be seen that, with a longV float in use,

ment. 'For-this purpose shafts 15 journalled in the float carry a three-armed bridge prece 16, one arm of which carries at 17 the hub yof the wheel (which is ofthe so-called airwheel form)y while the other two are attached 5B to the plate 14. The latter carries two waterbe swung from the position of 1 to that of Fig.; 2 or vice versa, the plat-elif being si 05 'multaneously moved' so as to cover'the opening in the'fl'oat'when the wheel. is out of use l (Figi. 2) or to move into thelo'at when the `wheel i'sgprojectedvtherefrom (Fig.1).

The tail 21 of the float is pivoted at 22 and 70 is connected by a link 23 to a crank, eccentric rlhe purposey of this. will be rclear vfrom Fig. 3 which, however, illustrates different mechanism.

a tailfskid such as 25 will not be adapted for use with a wheel in the float due to the tail "of the float striking the ground at '26 unless,

in accordance with the arrangement vmentioned, the tail of the float can be swung up simultaneously with the outward movement ,of the float wheels. When such swinging 0c- 7curs the tail-skid maybe usedv as indicated on theline .27.A Y

ln Figs. 3 7, the tail of each float carries ,a ni1t 2 8engaging thefthreaded end of a .i shaft 29, such threaded end being universally jointed to its shaft at 30. Carried on each worm (not shown) ona shaft 32. The two shafts 32 are coupled' by bevel wheels 33 shaft 29 is aworm wheel 31 operated .by a o0 which are in .turn Voperated by gearing under .thec'ontrol o f the pilot.V 1 With theI shafts 29 prevented. from aXial movement, it will be seen that rotation thereof will vcausethe* tails of the floats to4 swing upwardly into the dotted line position of Fig. 3. f The shafts 29 may carry at 34 worms operating the shafts 15,

'in which' event the shafts 2() may be omitted. -1

Y The/shafts 32 are provided with intermediate universal joints and are preferably housed in tubes forming` part of the framework supporting the floats.v which latter are pivotally mounted on joints in such tubes and connected to the machine by shockabsorbers 86. The wheels may or may not be provided with additional shock-absorbers. Figs. 8 and 9 show an arrangement in which a wheel is provided with shock-absorbing mechanism adapted to be housed in the float. In these figures reference numerals lO-16 and 18-20 refer to parts corresponding to the similar parts described'with relation to Figs. 1 and 2. the only differences as regards these parts being the form of the wheel, which is not of the air-wheel 7type, and that of the bridge piece. In this instance the bridge-piece carries the shock-absorbers 36 and the wheel is supported from an axle 87 carried by the shock-absorbers at 38.

Turning now to Figs. 1012, in which the parts corresponding to those in Figs. 1 and 2 are provided with similar referralces1 it will be seen that the V3-shaped opening 12 is now formed in a boX-like frame carrying spindles 15 and slidable at 41 in the float against the action of a shock-absorber 42, anchored to the aircraft, e. to a wing. The wheel 13 is of ordinary form and the hinge 22 is situated at the bottom of the fica-t. rilhe top of the tail 21 is coupled by a nut 43 to a universally ointe'd shaft 44 operated by worm mechanism and a shaft 46 from the pilots seat. This shaft 46 may also be coupled to similar mechanism on another float. The worm mechanism also drives a shaft 47 having a universal sliding joint 48, this shaft being coupled by bevels 49 to a shaft 50. Shaft 50 drives Worm gearing 51 by which the spindles 15 are rotated. kA spring 52 is fitted as shown on the shaft 44.

1While I have described embodiments of myinvention as applied to floats it will be clear that it is equally applicable -to other buoyant bodies such as a flying-boat hull. @ther modifications of the arrangements described may be made.

The closing plate may Ybe provided with a vent or drain hole or valve, and the wheels may be fitted with brake gear.

What l claim is v 1. Aircraft alighting gear comprising a buoyant body having an opening, a ground Wheel, means for swinging said wheel about a pivot positioned within said body into the buoyant body from its operative position by Way of said opening and vice versa, a cover for said opening pivoted about the same axis as the wheel., and means for moving said coverinto position when the wheel is withdrawn into the buoyant body, and for moving the cover into the body when the Wheel is in operative position.

2. Aircraft alighting gear comprising a buoyant body having an opening, a ground wheel, means for moving said Wheel about a pivot positioned Within said body into the buoyant body from its operative position by way of said opening and vice versa, and a plate coupled to the wheel-operating means to swing about the wheel pivot into a positioncovering said opening when the wheel is retracted and to swing into the body when the Wheel is in operative position.

3. Aircraft alighting gear comprising a buoyant body having an opening, a ground wheel, means for moving said Wheel about a. pivot positioned within said body into the buoyant body from its operative position by Way of said opening and vice versa, said means including a drive shaft, and a'cover for said opening operable from said shaft to swing about the pivotal aXis for the Wheel and close theopening Whenthe wheel is retracted.

4. Aircraft alighting gearcomprising a buoyant body having an opening, a wheel, means for moving said wheel about a pivot positioned within said body'into the buoyant body from its operative position by Way of said opening and vice versa, said means comprising a crank arm and a drive shaft therefor, a second crank arm carried on said shaft, and a cover for said opening carried by said second arm -to close the opening when the wheel is retracted.

5. Aircraft alighting gear comprising a buoyant body having an opening, a wheel, means for moving said wheel into the buoyant body from its operative position by Way of said opening and vice versa, said means including a pair of stub shafts journalled in said float and abridge-piece carrying said wheel and connecting said shafts, and a closing member for said opening carried by said bridge-piece. Y

6. Aircraft alighting gear comprising a float formed of a main body portion having an opening and a tail portion pivotally connected to said body portion, apivoted Wheel,

means for moving said Wheel to and from its operative position from within and into said float, afcove'r for said opening swinging about the pivotal. axis of the Whel and operable upon withdrawal of said Wheel, and

means for moving said tail about its pivot vupon actuation of said Wheel.

Gear according to claim 6 including a shaft in the wheel actuating means and a link connecting said shaft to the tail.

8. Aircraft alighting gear comprising a buoyant body having an opening, a Wheel,

a pivot therefor positioned within the buoyant body, means for moving said Wheel into the buoyant body from its operative position by way of said opening and vice versa, a shock-absorber associated with said wheel and its Vactuating means, and aV cover for said opening swung on said pivot and operable by @the drive-source of said wheel-actuatingv wheel, means housed within the means to close said opening when the Wheel is retracted and to move into the body when the wheel is in operative position.

9. Aircraft alighting gear comprising a buoyant body having an opening, an openended box-like frame slidable endwise within said opening, a wheel, journals in said frame for said wheel, -a cover for the end of said frame, and means for simultaneously moving said wheel and cover.

10. Aircraft gear according to claim 9, having a shock-absorber anchored at one end and connected to the frame at the other.

11. Aircraft alighting gear comprising a buoyant body having an opening, a pivoted mounted that the cover is buoyant body when the wheel is in its operative position, and means for moving saidcover into position when the wheel is withdrawn into the buoyant body.

12. Aircraft alighting gear comprising a buoyant body having an opening, a pivoted wheel, means for swinging said wheel into the buoyant body from its operative position by way of said opening and vice versa, a cover for said opening, and means for moving said cover into position when the wheel is withdrawn into moving the cover into the buoyant body when the wheel is in operative position.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

LEONARD W. WINTER.

being so relatively for swinging said Vwheel intothe buoyant body from its operative position l by way of said opening and vice versa, al cover for said opening, said cover and wheel the buoyant body and for 

